Word: iraqi
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...Minister Bernard Kouchner had no national troops to buck up when he began his surprise three-day visit Sunday. After all, Paris opposed the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein, with warnings of dire consequences that have mostly come to pass. So what was Kouchner's purpose in the Iraqi quagmire that most of his countrymen look to with "we told you so" dismay? In large part, to send the clear signal to Washington that France is determined to continue mending diplomatic relations that deteriorated, in large part, over Iraq...
...Though French Foreign Ministry officials say Kouchner's visit to Iraq was not discussed during that encounter - and arose from a visit by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - it's evident the mission was designed to smooth over multiple diplomatic rough spots with one dramatic gesture. "Now we are turning the page; there is a new perspective," Kouchner told reporters following his arrival in Baghdad Sunday, speaking language destined as much for U.S. officials as his Iraqi hosts. "We want to talk about the future. Democracy, integrity, sovereignty, reconciliation and stopping the killings...
...former CIA explosives expert who still works in Iraq told me: "The Iranians are making them. End of story." His argument is only a state is capable of manufacturing the EFP's, which involves a complicated annealing process. Incidentally, he also is convinced the IRGC is helping Iraqi Shi'a militias sight in their mortars on the Green Zone. "The way they're dropping them in, in neat grids, tells me all I need to know that the Shi'a are getting help. And there's no doubt it's Iranian, the IRGC's," he said...
...Maliki publicly reiterated their view of Iran as a friend and a positive influence for stability in their countries, leaving President Bush to huffily demur. Iran helped install the Karzai government and has a longstanding hostility towards the Taliban. And Tehran has also been a vocal supporter of the Iraqi government, whose leaders have been historically close to Iran. In both cases, though, these governments fear that the strategic rivalry between Iran and the U.S. could prompt both sides to take actions that could provoke the other and prompt an escalation that negatively affect both Afghan and Iraqi stability...
...portray Iran, and organizations associated with the Revolutionary Guards specifically, as the prime source of trouble in its neighborhood. U.S. officials now routinely blame Iran for many of the attacks on U.S. forces inside Iraq - despite limited evidence to back the claim - and accuse it of destabilizing the Iraqi government by supporting radical Shi'ite militia. The Administration also insists that Iran has been working to destabilize the Karzai government in Afghanistan, and accuses it of funneling weapons to the Taliban...